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JNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

ULLETIN, 1912: NO. 9 - - - - - - WHOLE NUMBER 480 



OUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR 
CITY BOYS 



By 

WILUAM STARR MYERS 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND POUTICS 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 



UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

BULLETIN, 1912: NO. 9 WHOLE NUMBER 480 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR 

CITY BOYS 



By 

WILLIAM STARR MYERS 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND POLITICS 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 



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CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Letter of transmittal ^ 5 

Back to the country 7 

Our past educational experience 8 

The Baltimore experiment 10 

Growth of the movement 12 

Outside influence of the plan 14 

Organization and ownership 14 

Location and equipment 15 

Boarding or day school 15 

Faculty and number of students 16 

Term and daily program 17 

Athletics 18 

Expenses, tuition, etc 19 

Special features 20 

Advantages of the country-school idea 21 

3 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Departme2^t of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 
Washington, D. C, March 29, 1912, 

Sir: In our efforts to improve our schools in America and to 
adapt them to the varying needs of children many thoughtful people 
have felt- the need of giving to city schools a better environment 
than they usually have on our crowded streets, with scant play- 
grounds, if any at all. Several years ago Dr. Preston W. Search, in 
his book An Ideal School, suggested that all the schools of the city 
should be brought together in one or more great school parks, with 
ample grounds for buildings, which should be only one story high, 
with pla^^grounds and space for grass and trees. He suggested that 
these school parks might be located away from the centers of the 
cities — probably in the suburbs, vrhere land could be had at less cost 
than in the business and residence sections. Other similar sugges- 
tions have been made, but for the masses of the children in the 
crowded sections of our cities this problem still remains unsolved. 

However, what the public at large has failed to accomplish for 
all the children private individuals have been able to accomplish 
for a few of the more fortunate. The idea of the country school for 
city children, supported by private tuition and private means, as 
worked out practically at Baltimore, has extended in some degree to 
all parts of the country and will probably become quite common. 
The story of this movement, as told by Dr. William Starr Myers in 
the accompanying manuscript, is both interesting and suggestive 
and should be known to all who are working for the betterment of 
the material conditions of schools for city children. I therefore 
recommend that this manuscript be published as a bulletin of this 
bureau and would call especial attention to the suggestions made 
by Dr. Myers as to the possibility of applying this principle to the 
public schools. It is quite easy to see how this might be clone for the 
public high schools, at least of most cities, with little or no additional 
cost to the public for buildings, grounds, and equipment, or to indi- 
vidual parents and children for transportation. 

5 



6 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 

It has frequently happened in the history of education in this and 
other countries that movements for the betterment of the public 
schools have begun in a small way with private schools as the result 
of the enthusiasm and earnestness of only a few individuals. It is 
sincerely hoped that this movement, begun at Baltimore in a private 
way and already extended to a dozen cities, may become a great 
national movement for the betterment of the public schools, in which 
the great masses of children are educated. 

Very respectfully, P. P. Claxton, 

Cormnissioner. 

The Secretary of the Interior. 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 



BACK TO THE COUNTRY. 

" Back to the country " is the cry of the advocates of one of our 
sanest philanthropic movements. To free thousands of our best citi- 
zens from the unwholesome and harmful influences of crowded 
houses, poor light, and bad air, and to restore them to the open fields, 
a freedom from unnatural restraints, and the blessings of God's sun- 
shine, are objects worthy of the best efforts of the American people. 

The average city resident of comfortable means is accustomed to 
think that such a movement is merely a charity designed to help the 
poorer and more unfortunate elements of our population, but as a 
matter of fact it is of vital interest to every man, woman, and child 
that lives in a large city. Unhealthful conditions of life do not affect 
merely the inmates of small houses on alleys and back streets, but 
spread, through inevitable contact, to the handsome establishments of 
the more favored neighborhoods; sooner or later the whole city is 
affected. 

Realizing this fact, philanthropists have made an effort to find 
some means by which our boys who live in the city may spend at 
least the day in the country, and at the same time have the advan- 
tages of an education in the best schools. Some of our people of 
means, those who can afford the money necessary for an experiment, 
have hit upon a plan which has solved the problem, it is believed, 
and that is the plan of founding " country day schools for city boys." 
And girls, too, are going to be included among those who share the 
benefits of this movement. 

Up to 15 years ago the only two possible things for the city family, 
if a healthful outdoor life was desired for the children, were to live 
at a country home six months of the year and each day send the 
children in town to school, or else to break all home ties for a large 
part of the year by sending the boys and girls away to boarding 
school. A group of men and women of intelligence and enterprise in 
Baltimore had the vision to see and the faith to act, and the Oilman 
Country School for Boys, founded in 1897, is the result. 

T 



8 COTJNTKY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 

OUR PAST EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE. 

The educational history of our country, viewed from the stand- 
point of this latest development, is of especial interest. In the ear- 
liest times, when our people lived in a small fringe of settlements 
along the Atlantic seaboard, before the public school as we at present 
know it was more than a mere thought in the minds of our wise 
colonial forefathers, the so-called Latin or Grammar schools were 
founded. Among the earliest of these were the Boys' Latin School 
(1635) and the Roxbury Latin School (1645), of Boston, and the 
Penn Charter School (1698), of Philadelphia. They were all what 
we of the present would call " private " day schools, being " public " 
only in the sense that any citizen might send his boys to them if he 
could and would pay the necessary cost of tuition. 

The students spent the morning at the school, rushed home to a 
hasty lunch or dinner, then hurried back to the second session of the 
day, with the frequent accompaniment of unsatisfied appetite or 
harmed digestion, but they had the saving favor of broad, open 
streets or vacant lots to play upon after school hours were over, at 
4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The work done in these schools, 
though of a sort that to-day might be deemed narrow and old- 
fashioned, was sound, and to that fact we owe the foundation of 
most of the culture and education in America to-day. 

As time went on the cities gradually built up, becoming larger and 
more crowded. There were fewer vacant lots for young America to 
play upon, and in still later days even cable and electric cars were 
powerless to make continually accessible the open places necessary 
for exercise and fresh air. So much time was taken up in going to 
and from the " athletic fields," which the schools must now provide, 
that little chance was left for the good, long, hard play that is so 
necessary for the proper development of a healthy boy. The gym- 
nasium was a new advantage, it is true, but at best it merely gave 
opportunity for exercise indoors or in bad weather, which was more 
like work than the healthful outdoor sports and games and had the 
added disadvantage of making exercise a husiness. 

The public schools, as we know them to-day, were later established, 
and from them the old-style schools and academies differed little 
except in size and sometimes in equipment, or in the " exclusiveness " 
or "selectness" that the payment of tuition was supposed to give. 

Thoughtful parents were beginning to see the necessity of finding 
some way to keep their boys off the streets, and perhaps away from 
the bad associates of the hours out of school, and the only way open 
to them was that afforded by the boarding schools now springing 
up all over the country, many of them under church direction or 
influence. These are the institutions that are still so prominent in 
the educational life of the present day. 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 9 

Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, St. James (Maryland), St. Paul's, 
St. Mark's, and many others were founded years ago, seA^eral of 
them having rounded out to-day a full century of existence. Their 
original purpose was mainly that of supplying an education for 
the boys of the small towns or country districts, for whom the day 
schools and academies, of which I have been speaking, were not 
available, and for whom the efficient high school, as we know it 
now, was still a thing of the future. These schools offered an oppor- 
tunity that soon was grasped by the parents of the city boys, with 
the result that the old institutions grew at a remarkable rate, and new 
schools were founded all over the country. Groton, Pomfret, Hotch- 
kiss. Hill, Asheville, Tome — all are among those dating from the 
period under discussion. To go away to a large boarding school 
of this type became the established custom. 

Furthermore, the number and the popularity of our colleges and 
universities were increasing at the same time, and these schools were 
looked upon as the best means of acquiring a proper preparation 
for the more advanced education, with the result that they 
progressed in character and extent of training to a grade that has 
not yet been attained by the general average of other types of schools 
to-day. 

The present status of college entrance requirements was another 
result. In the East our largest universities, such as Harvard, Yale, 
and Princeton, more often consult and adapt their entrance require- 
ments to the wishes of these large boarding schools than to the de- 
sires of any other preparatory institutions. The reason is obvious. 
These schools not only supply a large percentage of the students 
entering college, but also by means of their excellent and thorough 
educational work have been a factor in raising the standard of 
preparation. Of course these conditions preA^ail to a less extent in 
the West, where the State universities dominate the educational field, 
and as heads of the public-school systems plan their requirements 
more nearly to meet the efforts of the high schools. 

There is no question that a large boarding school offers great edu- 
cational advantages to those boys whose fathers can afford to pay 
for them, through the excellence of its curriculum, the strength of its 
faculty (for it can afford to pay salaries high enough to attract some 
of the best teachers, who would otherwise be engaged in college 
work) , its large and expensive equipment, and the facilities it offers 
for personal touch with the masters and a large and valuable ac- 
quaintance among boys from all over the country. But it has one 
serious drawback — it cuts off the boy from home when 12 or 15 years 
old, the very age of all others when he needs the influences centering 
around home and family, which are of greater importance than any 
other in the life of a normal, well-trained, healthy child. The in- 
38210°— 12 2 



10 OOUNTUY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 

fluence of a teacher is tremendous, but at best it can only supplement 
and add to that of a conscientious father and tender mother. Realiz- 
ing this difficulty, the country school was founded, and it bids fair 
to make on the educational history of our time a still greater mark 
than it has already made in the comparatively short time it has been 
in existence. 

THE BALTIMORE EXPERIMENT. 

The whole movement at Baltimore, Md., owes its beginning to Mrs. 
Francis K. Carey, wife of a prominent attorney of that city. Mrs. 
Carey, prompted by the wish for a proper school for her own child 
without separating him from the influences of home, worked out the 
idea of an all-day country school for city boys, perhaps combined 
with a boarding school, which would furnish the routine of an entire 
day in the country with study and sports alike under the teachers' 
direction. She discussed the matter with Mrs. William Cabell Bruce, 
and finally enlisted the interest of Dr. Daniel Coit Gilman, the 
lamented president of Johns Hopkins University, who together with 
Mr. Francis K. Carey, Mr. William Cabell Bruce, and the late Hon. 
William A. Fisher were so convinced of the advantages and sound 
common sense of the idea that they felt themselves justified in mak- 
ing a definite attempt to establish such a school. 

In March, 1897, a commitee on organization was formed, which 
consisted of President Gilman and Prof. Herbert B. Adams, of Johns 
Hopkins University; Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte, Attorney General 
in President Roosevelt's Cabinet ; Hon. William A. Fisher, Mr. Wil- 
liam Cabell Bruce, Mr. William H. Buckler, and Mr. Francis K. 
Carey. This committee issued the following announcement: 

It is proposed to establish a country boarding and day school for boys, de- 
signed for the education of those boys whose parents wish them to be trained 
from the beginning of their school education under the best methods approved 
by modern educators and with surroundings which will protect their health and 
character. As far as possible, the school will aim to furnish to Baltimore boys 
the advantages which are now offered at the well-known boarding schools of 
the country without separating the boys, more than may be indispensable, from 
their parents. The school buildings will be located at some point in the suburbs 
of Baltimore, easily accessible by electric cars or steam railway. They will 
be properly equipped and furnished and will be surrounded by ample grounds. 

In acordance with these plans a board of trustees w^as selected and 
a corporation formed under the title " The Country School for Boys 
of Baltimore City," a name that was changed recently to that of the 
" Gilman Country School for Boys," thus doing honor to the one of 
its founders who, with few possible exceptions, influenced education 
for good in this country more than any other American of the nine- 
teenth century. 

As the result of active effort under the leadership of Mr. Carey, 
in which nearly 200 men were interviewed, a fund of $12,000 was 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 11 

raised with which to make the experiment. Some 27 of the most 
prominent citizens of Baltimore, who subscribed the amount, are 
known as the " founders." 

At the same time was secured for the school the Homewood estate, 
on Charles Street extended, situated near a street car line and about 
2 miles from the center of the city. It contains a beautiful old resi- 
dence of the best type of colonial architecture, which was built in 
1803 by Charles Carroll, of CarroUton, for his son, Charles Car- 
roll, jr., and the school had the use of some 12 acres of grounds in 
addition. The estate is located on one of the rolling hills back of 
the city, to the north, in a situation especially beautiful, the house 
standing some 245 feet aboA^e the level of Baltimore Harbor. In 
these healthful and beautiful surroundings the school was opened 
on September 30, 1897, Mr. Frederic Winsor, of Massachusetts, being 
the first head master. 

Here the school remained for 13 years, a period of steady growth 
in spite of several small setbacks, due to change in active manage- 
ment and the usual difficulties inherent in any new undertaking. 
On October 4, 1910, it moved into its own property, situated in 
Roland Park, a charming suburb, located about 2 miles farther out 
from the city than Homewood. Here is a new and thoroughly 
equipped building, which has accommodations for 60 boarders and 
150 day pupils. The grounds consist of 70 acres in woodland, lawns, 
and athletic fields, and the large field now in use is one of the finest 
in the State. All water used in the school is drawn from a sealed 
well, driven more than 250 feet through solid rock. The yield is 
more than 40 gallons a minute, and is pronounced by the State board 
or health to be absolutely pure. The total capital invested in this 
new plant is more than $300,000, of which $225,000 has been put into 
the building and the grading of grounds. Mr. Frank "Woodworth 
Pine is the present head master. 

The old Homewood estate is included in the tract presented to 
Johns Hopkins University some 10 years ago by the late William 
Wyman and others and will shortly become the site of that institu- 
tion. 

The Oilman School now has a faculty of 15 and a student body of 
157. It provides a continuous and systematic course of instruction 
for boys from the time they are about 10 until they are prepared to 
enter college. The exercises begin at 9 o'clock, and at 5.30 the day 
scholars return home to their parents, their minds trained by the 
best educational methods, their lungs filled with fresh air, and their 
bodies tired from healthy play. 

Before giving a more detailed description of the schools and the 
working of the various ideals involved it is well to note the spread 
of the idea over the country. 



12 COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 

GROWTH OF THE MOVEMENT. 

It is a most interesting fact that, answering to the needs of the 
boys of New York City, another school of the same type as the 
Gilman School was founded in 1907, and that its founder, Mr. Frank 
S. Hackett, knew nothing of the Baltimore experiment.^ 

This new venture, the Riverdale Country School, was the prac- 
tical answer to a demand by a number of New York families for a 
near-by country boarding and day school. It was established at 
Riverdale-on-Hudson, in a beautiful site opposite the Palisades, on 
a ridge overlooking Van Cortlandt Park. The school property con- 
sists of 14 acres, in addition to which the boys have the range of 
the park for all kinds of outdoor sports. It is reached in 40 minutes 
by the "subway" from Forty-second Street (only 18 minutes of 
the time being underground), and the boys go each way in the charge 
of a master. The success of this school is great. It is patronized 
by the same class of people as the Gilman School. 

In the same year as that of the founding of the Riverdale School 
the Country Day School for Boys of Boston was founded at Newton, 
Mass., under the efficient leadership of Mr. Shirley K. Kerns, at 
one time master of English in the Gilman School and, upon the 
retirement of Mr. Frederic Winsor, the acting head master for the 
year 1900-1901 in the same institution. The success of this school 
was instantaneous, and it may be looked upon as the first direct 
offshoot of the Baltimore plan. 

In 1908 Dr. W. Wellington Massee founded the Massee Country 
School, at Lawrence Park, Bronxville, N. Y., on the Harlem division 
of the New York Central Railroad, about 15 miles from New York 
City. Dr. Massee writes : ^ 

I have had a school both in New York City and in the country, and I find 
that the conditions are so much better in the latter place that we are able to 
do almost one-fifth better work. The value of the pure country air for the 
growing child can not be estimated. From September 26, 1911, to February 15, 
1912, we have not had one of our boys under the care of a physician for even 
one call. In the city the attendance was very irregular, due to sickness of vari- 
ous kinds. 

It is well to remember, too, that these boys are drawn from the 
wealthy class, and their supposedly pampered and sheltered upbring- 
ing is considered to be anything but favorable to good and vigorous 
health. 

The next year (1909) saw the well-established and successful 
Nichols School, of Buffalo, N. Y., founded in 1893, " pull up stakes " 
and move to an estate of 19 acres in the suburbs of the city, easily 

1 See a valuable and interesting article by Mr. Hackett In the New York Evening 
Post (Sept. 2, 1911), entitled "New Country School Idea." I wish to acknowledge my 
indebtedness to the article for many ideas incorporated in this bulletin. 

a Under date of Feb. 15, 3912. 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 13 

accessible by trolley, where it has erected buildings of the latest and 
most approved design. Under the new leadership of Mr. Joseph 
Dana Allen it has emerged as a full-fledged " country school." The 
announcement issued at the time of the change states that the school 
is " intended to meet all the demands of the hearty, growing boy 
who wishes to prepare for college under the best educational condi- 
tions and at the same time to occupy his afternoons with study and 
sport, doing all this among the most healthful and inspiring sur- 
roundings. ' The school that cares of a boy all day ' expresses the 
aim of the Nichols School." That the above reasons were considered 
amply sufficient to explain the change of location is evidenced by the 
large and generous support the school has received from the people 
of Buffalo. 

By the time another year had elapsed the influence of the idea 
had traveled far, and at Kansas City, Mo., was founded (1910) the 
" Country Day School," with Mr. Kalph Hoffman as head master. 
The prospectus of the school cogently stated that "the boy's after- 
noon, which in a large city becomes a more and more serious 
problem, is devoted to vigorous play. Dawdling aind loafing are 
eliminated. The teachers join in the sports, and by their participa- 
tion not only establish genuine intimacy with their pupils, but are 
able also to inculcate and strengthen the standards which the boys 
themselves are quick to recognize as those of manly sport — fairness, 
courage, courtesy." The school opened with 18 boys, and by the end 
of this, its second year, the number has more than doubled. It now 
occupies a temporary building, built and equipped especially for 
the school, in which it will remain a year or two more. It expects 
to have by that time a larger and more permanent plant which will 
make even more special provision for the outdoor side of its life, 
upon which it is possible to put a great deal of emphasis, owing to 
the favorable climate of Kansas City. 

In 1911 three schools were started and a fourth one organized. 
The Chamberlayne School, Dr. Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, 
head master, at Richmond, Va., is a second direct result of the in- 
fluence of the Oilman School, at which Dr. Chamberlayne was for 
five years master of history. The Columbus Academy, Mr. Frank 
P. R. Van Syckel, head master, is the result of the efforts of a group 
of leading citizens of Columbus, Ohio, who asked Mr. Van Syckel 
to come to their city and organize it. The other two schools of this 
year are instances of older schools following the example of the 
Nichols School and adopting the new plan. They are the Minne- 
apolis (Minn.) Country School (formerly the Blake School, founded 
1907), Mr. Charles Bertram Newton, head master, and the Louis- 
ville (Ky.) Country Day School (formerly the Patterson-Daven- 
port School, founded 1902), Mr. William Davenport, head master. 



14 COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOB CITY BOYS. 

This last school only opened in January, 1912, but like the school 
at Minneapolis, is already assured of success. 

Finally, the Jefferson School for Boys, Mr. Wiliam Tappan, head 
master, an excellent Baltimore day school founded some 10 years ago, 
has lately moved to a site in the northwestern section of the city, 
where it occupies a fine tract of 43 acres. 

OUTSIDE INFLUENCE OF THE PLAI^. 

While the above sketch mentions all the schools of the new type 
that it has been possible to locate, yet the effects of the movement, 
surprising as they have been, have by no means reached their limit. 
A change of attitude is noticed in many of the old boarding schools 
located near the cities. Their faculties are impressed by the wisdom 
and growth of the new idea, and feeling its influence, they are wel- 
coming day pupils from the near-by city, finding that the old fear 
that boarding and day pupils will not get along well together is 
groundless. Neither system interferes with the other, and such 
schools as the old Harrisburg (Pa.) Academy, or the Chestnut Hill 
Academy and Haverford School, near Philadelphia, are rapidly ap- 
proaching the type of the "country day school," and even in many 
cases are welcoming the change. In fact the Harrisburg Academy 
has gone so far as frankly to announce its imitation of the policy of 
the Gilman School. It is a high tribute to the efficiency of the man- 
agement of these schools that they are able to adapt themselves to 
the new conditions with very little difficulty and with great success. 

ORGANIZATION AND OWNERSHIP. 

All the schools in question are owned either by individuals or by 
corporations. In fact the latter is the general rule; even in case of 
individual ownership, there are boards of advisers or trustees. It is 
an encouragement for the future of education in general as well as 
for this kind of school in particular that these boards, usually of from 
6 to 15 members, are made up of men from the best professional and 
commercial classes, men of culture, refinement, and capacity, who are 
glad to give the benefits of the ability that won for them prominence 
or fortune in other walks of life in order to insure the success of this 
experiment. More often than not they have entered their own sons 
as pupils of the school. Thus they add to their general interest the 
personal element that counts for so much toward the effectiveness of 
any work. It may be said in consequence of this that perhaps one 
reason for the great success of these schools is the fact that their 
management on the financial side is directed by the best business 
talent in the community. 

Of course, the final success of an}^ school is dependent upon the 
head master or principal, for it is primarily to him that the school 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 15 

must look for its tone, its thoroughness, and its standard of scholar- 
ship. He appoints the faculty, with the advice and consent of the 
trustees. Of course, the heads of the schools under discussion are 
chosen men of unusual ability, training, and experience. 

In many cases the idea of financial return is absent from the own- 
ership, all profits being used to increase the scope or efficiency of 
the school. The stockholders, if there are any, look upon their 
investment as being in reality an endowment for the advancement 
of education. 

LOCATION AND EQUIPMENT. 

The schools are easily accessible from the city. They vary in 
distance from 2 to 15 miles and in time needful for the journey from 
15 to 40 minutes. It has been found that it is difficult to draw 
patronage from a distance requiring more of a trip than may be 
made in half an hour. The Chestnut Hill Academy, in the thickly 
settled suburbs of Philadelphia, has found that most of its patronage 
comes from a radius within 15 minutes' ride of the school by train 
or trolley car. Several schools, notably the River dale and Gilman, 
are planning automobile service and hope by this means to solve 
what has been called the most difficult of all the problems — that of 
transportation. The success of a country school, as distinguished 
from other schools, depends upon securing a site that is both health- 
ful and easy of access; otherwise the school either will be composed 
entirely of boarders or else will result in a dismal failure. 

The grounds, which vary in extent from 3 or 4 acres to the 70 of 
the Gilman School, contain facilities for football, baseball, tennis, and 
other sports. The buildings are of the general type found best 
adapted to the uses of any school, due attention being given to air, 
light, heat, sanitation, etc. A gymnasium of fair equipment for 
indoor athletics is an absolute necessity, as healthful exercise is the 
keynote of the schools, and the weather is often too bad for outdoor 
sports. 

It can be said from personal experience that nothing appeals to the 
pleasure and interest of the schoolboy quite so much as a swimming 
pool. This very. expensive and attractive accessory is included in the 
equipment of a number of the schools under consideration. A pool 
is not a necessity, but with due care its use is very valuable, and it 
always proves a telling advertisement. 

BOARDING OR DAY SCHOOL. 

At first, most teachers of experience doubted the wisdom of rank- 
ing the boarding and day departments as of equal importance in the 
same school. Hence some of the schools have only day pupils, notably 
the Boston Country Day, the Nichols, the Kansas City, the Columbus, 



16 COUNTUY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 

the Minneapolis, the Jefferson, and the Louisville Schools. The Gil- 
man, Riverdale, Massee, and Chamberlayne Schools include both, as 
do the older boarding schools of course — such as the Chestnut Hill 
and Haverford Schools and the Harrisburg Academy. It has been 
found that the fears of the doubters have been proved empty, as there 
are no problems involved that a firm and tactful head master can not 
easily solve. 

In these schools the number of day scholars heavily outbalances 
the number of boarders. The Massee, with 40 per cent, and the River 
dale, with 35 per cent of boarders, have the largest proportional num- 
ber, as compared with 28 per cent at the Chamberlayne and 25 per 
cent at the Oilman School. Many parents make the compromise of 
having their boys live at school from Monday morning till Friday 
or Saturday and then enjoy the benefits of home over Sunday. 

A boarding department has the special advantage of being very 
profitable from a business standpoint. Day students are always far 
more expensive in comparison. No private school, however pros- 
perous it may be or however strong its financial backing, is ever free 
from the problems incidental to making both ends meet and at the 
same time continuing to advance in scholarship and equipment. 

FACULTY AND NUMBER OF STUDENTS. 

On account of the location near a city, with all its advantages and 
attractions, especially when there is a large university, such as Johns 
Hopkins or Columbia or Harvard, near at hand, these schools are able 
to secure teachers of a high standard with less difficulty than the 
more isolated boarding school, located some distance away in the 
country. Libraries, theaters, lectures, music, the large stores — all 
these are advantages well worth considering, for the scholar of to- 
day is no longer a hermit or a mere bookworm. If so, he is not the 
type of man that will prove successful in the handling of boys. 
AVhat is needed is the person who, no matter how great his scholarly 
training may be, yet has the broad, hearty interests and sympathies 
of the well-informed, experienced, all-round man. And this is the 
kind of teacher that these schools have placed on their faculties. It 
is interesting to note how many of the foremost universities and col- 
leges of both America and Europe are represented in these faculties 
by advanced as well as by bachelor's degrees. 

The faculties are large enough to guarantee small classes, so that 
the intimate personal touch may never be lacking. It is the need of 
this close personal relation between teacher and pupil, even in col- 
lege education, that caused Princeton University, under the inspiring 
leadership of its former president. Dr. Woodrow Wilson, to introduce 
at great cost and effort the " preceptorial system," which has proved 
such a remarkable success. 



COUNTEY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 17 

The larger schools have specialists to teach each major subject. 
Strange to say, history and civics are the subjects so far generally 
neglected or inadequately provided for. The Kansas City School 
shows the beginning of a wholesome and welcome change in requir- 
ing history through the entire course. The general tendency, even 
in fine schools of this type, is to forget that training for citizenship 
is of prime importance and to devote an overwhelming amount of 
class-room energy to classics, mathematics, and other matters of col- 
lege entrance requirement; a mistake, after all, no matter how 
necessary these subjects rightfully may be or how valuable from the 
standpoint of training and culture. 

Most of the schools average 1 member of the faculty to every 
10 pupils, a proportion allowing unusual personal attention and 
thoroughness of work. 

The Gilman School is the largest country school, having 157 pupils. 
The Nichols School comes next, with 143, and the Boston Day School, 
with 130. It is the aim of all the schools to keep their numbers 
within rather moderate limits in order to insure the realization of 
the advantages of small classes noted above. 

The ages of the boys usually vary from 8 years to 19 or 20. By 
taking charge of the pupils when very young a firm foundation in 
the elements of learning is laid, upon which later may be built the 
firm structure of scholarship that is needed for the more advanced 
work in the college or university. 

In fact it is worthy of note that thoroughness has been taken as 
the ideal for all the educational work of the schools under discussion. 
They have no desire to be merely " hothouses " for the nurture or 
forcing of delicate and tender human plants, but manly and health- 
ful places, where the boy shall " stand upon his own feet without 
fear or favor." The effort is made to classify boys according to their 
proficiency in each subject and not according to their general 
standing. 

Several schools separate the very little boys from the older in 
their study and play, bringing them together each day only for the 
special purpose of arousing emulation and promoting school spirit 
and solidarity. In many cases women teachers do the work of the 
primary department. 

TERM AND DAILY PROGRAM. 

The term usually extends from the latter part of September till 
the second week in June, the dates being varied to fit local needs of 
climate, college entrance examinations, etc. It is found almost use- 
less to attempt to continue late in the summer, as boys of the class 
now attending the schools belong to families that are in the habit of 
going away early in the season and taking their children with them. 



18 COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOB CITY BOYS. 

The last few weeks of school are thus badly interfered with. In 
addition, the summer camps for boys by mountain or seashore start 
their work soon after the close of the ordinary school term. They 
draw a great deal of patronage from the same people. 
The following is a typical daily schedule : 

Daily Schedule. 

9 a. m -Roll call; prayers; announcements. 

9.15 to 11.15 a. m -Recitation and study. 

11.15 to 11.30 a. m Recess, with bread and milk. 

11.30 a. m. to 1.30 p. m Recitation and study. 

1.30 p. m Dinner. 

2.15 p. m Change to athletic clothes. 

2.30 to 4 p. m -Athletics. 

4 to 4.30 p. m Bath and change to regular clothes. 

4.30 to 5.30 p. m Study. 

5.30 to 6 p. m -_ Detention. 

During the fall and spring terms the period for athletics is ex- 
tended from 4 to 4.15, and each of the following periods is delayed a 
quarter of an hour, the study period then closing at 5.45, and the 
detention period at 6.15.^ 

This is varied in some schools by having a recitation or study 
period (usually for the lighter subjects) shortly after dinner, say, 
from 2.15 till 3 o'clock, and all athletics afterwards. As much as 
possible the study in preparation of lessons for the next day is done 
at school, usually in small groups under the eye of a teacher, who is 
supposed to direct rather than assist in the work, thus inculcating 
responsibility and self-confidence and not giving education by the 
" pouring in " process. The small boys are supposed to do all their 
studying at school, while the amount of time used for study at home 
varies with the age and advancement of the pupil. In no case is the 
parent supposed to play the part of a substitute teacher or tutor, to 
aid and support the efforts of the teacher. 

The midday meal is a hot lunch or dinner. The boys have plenty 
of time to eat this without undue haste, and with the pleasant com- 
panionship of the masters and the other boys. Thus the meals add 
to both health and good-fellowship. 

The schools are open Saturdays for punitive or deficiency work 
or for the purpose of permitting the boys to spend the day in outdoor 
play. 

ATHLETICS. 

As may be expected, athletics form a prominent feature in the life 
of these schools, for full advantage is taken of the unusual oppor- 
tunities afforded for exercise in the open air. It is interesting to 

^Adapted from the catalogue of the Chamberlayne School, Richmond, Va. The recita- 
tion periods in the various schools average 45 to 60 minutes each. 



COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 19 

note the long list that may be made from the statements in the coun- 
try-school catalogues of various games and forms of exercise now 
in use. Twenty-five forms of exercise and amusement are actually 
carried on, namely, football, baseball, " soccer," outdoor and indoor 
basket ball, squash, bowling, outdoor and indoor handball, tennis, 
golf, cricket, track and field athletics, swimming, gymnastics, " set- 
ting-up exercises," cross-country running, tramping, horseback rid- 
ing, skating, hockey, coasting and tobogganing, skeeing, snowshoe- 
ing, and for the little boys the games of prisoner's base, hide and 
seek, and snow forts. Certainly they should delight the heart of any 
normal American boy with good red blood in his veins. 

Most of the schools have special physicians, who examine the boys, 
note any weakness or peculiarity of development, and prescribe the 
most beneficial form of exercise. All the athletics are under the 
close supervision of trained instructors, and many of the masters 
join with the boys in their play, seeing that all take part and that a 
good spirit of fairness and sportsmanship is cultivated. 

These schools have made a healthy fight against a bad tendency 
common to most schools and colleges. They refuse to bend all their 
efforts toward producing a winning team for interscholastic matches 
and to permit the rest of the boys to look on from the side lines. 
Matches between the teams of different schools are allowed, and 
even encouraged, but an effort is made to keep them within moder- 
ate bounds. It is usual to require each boy to make a complete 
change of clothing for athletics and to follow the exercise by a 
shower bath or "rub down." In this way are prevented the colds 
that usually follow from becoming overheated and then sitting in 
clothing damp from perspiration. 

A study period follows the afternoon sport. The boys come in to 
it wide awake and all aglow and make good progress toward master- 
ing the lessons for the next day. 

Five of the schools put an absolute prohibition on all smoking 
for boarders, and for day pupils from the time the boy leaves home in 
the morning until he returns home in the evening and is again en- 
tirely under the direction and control of his parents. 

EXPENSES, TUITION, ETC. 

As a general rule these schools are of necessity expensive, and 
this matter of expense may be considered to be the greatest handicap 
under which the movement rests. At present only the sons of peo- 
ple of means can enjoy its advantages. The next task for educators 
is to bring the benefits of these schools within the reach of a wider 
circle of people. 

The charge for tuition ranges from $125 to $450 per year for day 
pupils, varying somewhat with the age of the boy and the location 



20 COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOE CITY BOYS. 

of the school, the average being about $250. Several schools include 
in this amount the cost of the midday lunch or dinner, but the larger 
number charge in addition $1.50 or $2 per week, or, perhaps, $75 per 
year, for this meal. 

The charge for boarding pupils is more moderate than that made 
by the large boarding schools of the standard type. It ranges from 
$400 to $950 per year, with an average of about $700. Several of the 
schools require various " extras '' for both boarding and day scholars, 
the most usual being a yearly charge of $5 or $10 for the athletic 
association, or of $10 to $15 as a fee for laboratory, manual training, 
drawing, or music. 

SPECIAL FEATURES. 

While it appears that none of the regular country schools is under 
church direction or supervision, yet all stress a broad-minded, sin- 
cere, religious life as the ideal for every normal man. The day opens 
with a religious service and Bible readings or moral and ethical 
instruction. Among the school patrons are Protestant and Catholic, 
Jew and Gentile, but all are able and willing to join in the practice 
of a broadly tolerant religion that is worthy of the American ideal. 

It is understood when a boy enters any one of these schools that 
it is the right of the authorities to require his withdrawal if at any 
time they deem his presence undesirable. 

Each school has its own characteristic features, many of them of 
great merit, as the following brief description will amply testify. 

The Gilman School has for little boys of about 8 to 10 years an 
" open-air school" under the charge of a special teacher (a woman). 
It occupies a small, plain, wooden building, built up on three sides 
without windows, and the fourth side, with southern exposure, en- 
tirely open to the fresh air. Here are desks and necessary school 
furniture, and, wrapped up w^armly, the children study and recite 
as in an ordinary schoolroom. So far no special difficulty has been 
experienced, even in the changeable climate of a Baltimore winter, 
and, as in the case of like experiments in public schools, the results 
for sick and delicate children have been most successful. 

The Boston Country Day School makes a special feature of nature 
study, for which its situation affords great opportunity. Also great 
emphasis is laid upon vocal music for all students. 

The Riverdale School has given successful performances, by the 
boys, of Shakespearean plays, notably "Julius Caesar," "Midsum- 
mer Night's Dream," and "As You Like It." It also has frequent 
lectures and addresses, illustrated with stereopticon views. 

The Nichols School has business courses and training in car- 
pentry, while the Chamberlayne School has frequent excursions, 
under the direction of the head master, to near-by points of historic 
interest. 


















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COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 21 

The policy of the Columbus Academy is " to avoid a multiplicity 
of studies at one one time, but to give to those pursued earnest and 
thorough attention." 

The Masses County School, the Minneapolis Country School, and 
the Louisville Country Day School make a specialty of preparing 
boys to enter the large boarding schools throughout the country. 
Other schools discourage this, attempting to keep their pupils till 
they are ready to enter college. All the schools heartily invite visits 
of parents and friends, believing that there can be no greater oppor- 
tunity to show the excellence of the ideas underlying their life and 
work. 

ADVANTAGES OF THE COUNTRY SCHOOL n)EA. 

In conclusion, it should be repeated that the country schools offer 
the advantages of boarding schools without the necessary separation 
from the parents. The best influences of a home are never supp] ied by 
a boarding school ; and no teacher or any other person can show the 
loving care and affection or " insure the softening and refining in- 
fluences which a mother, of all people, can best give."^ The right 
sort of a father should and does have a better influence on his son 
than any schoolmaster, and " if the master gets a stronger hold on 
the boy the father suffers in seeing his son more at ease in the com- 
panionship and preferring the society of another man to his own." ^ 
Furthermore, the boarding school boy, when at home on his vacation, 
might be inclined to spend his time in a round of excitement and 
festivities, which would tend to pervert his idea of what a home is 
and how it should be enjoyed. 

Finally, the school that keeps a boy in the open, with plenty of 
fresh air and room for healthful play and away from the streets, 
the matinees, and moving-picture shows, or perhaps from really 
harmful diversions, needs no further excuse for its being. The 
great problem is, how the advantages may be extended to the enor- 
mous mass of our public-school children, girls as well as boys. If 
school boards in country districts can consolidate schools for the 
purposes of efficienc}'' and arrange for the transportation of children 
from widely scattered districts to a central school, why can not the 
method be reversed in the case of the city children ? This means the 
arrangement of such matters as transportation, the noonday lunch, 
and supervision of athletics and play. It also means the formation 
of a public opinion necessary for inaugurating the movement and 
carrying it through. 

It has been suggested that for the present, in the congested districts 
of our cities where the need of a change of conditions is more pressing, 

1 Quoted from Nichols School catalogue. 

2 Quoted from an address by Mr. S. K. Kerns, head master of the Boston Day School. 



22 COUNTRY SCHOOLS FOR CITY BOYS. 

the tops of high office and loft buildings might be utilized. Schools 
for a moderate number of pupils might be organized, taking the more 
delicate and anemic children first. Here there would be plenty of 
fresh air and plenty of room to play. Small houses for families are 
sometimes built there. Why not small school buildings and per- 
haps open-air classrooms? One or more passenger elevators could 
be reserved for the exclusive use of the children at certain hours. 
The isolation of the top of the building would minimize any danger 
of disturbing the regular tenants. The added revenue from the rent 
of the roofs should prove sufficient inducement to secure the coopera- 
tion of the owners of the buildings. 

These are merely suggestions. The problem is before the Ameri- 
can people, who some day will solve it. 

o 



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